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Compression questions.
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| Innocence Lost |
I couldn't find answers in the prod master tut to some stuff thats been on my mind using this new shiny compressor i bought.
Whats it mean to add or decrease gain input or output?
The compressor I'm using is FET form softube. I figured if i'm going to buy one I'd get the shiniest :D
And here;s one general question, which type of compressor is best for letting digital drums sit in the mix? |
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| cryophonik |
| quote: | Originally posted by Innocence Lost
Whats it mean to add or decrease gain input or output? |
The input is simply how much of the uncompressed signal is going into the compressor. It will affect the way your compressor responds, so it can drastically affect the sound. Some compressors sound great when they're overdriven (high input gain), others not so much. The output is simply how much of the processed (i.e., compressed) signal is sent back out of the compressor. It's usually used for gain compensation - i.e., the compressor's job is to reduce the dynamic range of the signal, which results in a lower overall loudness, so the output gain can be used to compensate for that loss by turning to match the pre-compression loudness or balance in the mix.
| quote: | Originally posted by Innocence Lost
And here;s one general question, which type of compressor is best for letting digital drums sit in the mix? |
The one that sounds the best. :)
Compression is a very program-dependent effect, so it can differ depending on the sound/balance of the drums. Personally, I tend to prefer SSL-style compression on drums. |
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| Innocence Lost |
| ahh thank you Cryo, I just got me another compressor for 30 bucks. One thing i know is that all don't sound the same for sure. Next month I have my eye on one more and that'll be all. |
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| DJ RANN |
Everything Dave said is spot on.
For drums (especially dance music) you typically want hard knee settings. Some compressors do this better than others and I can't tell you what the softube one is like for that. Sometimes you want to drive the input gain as Dave suggested as it can sound great, but on others it can sound crap.
For vox and pads, you typically want slower, smoother compression and again you'll just have to play with it and see. |
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| Kthought |
| This is a stellar unit btw. :cool: |
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| Innocence Lost |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ RANN
Everything Dave said is spot on.
For drums (especially dance music) you typically want hard knee settings. Some compressors do this better than others and I can't tell you what the softube one is like for that. Sometimes you want to drive the input gain as Dave suggested as it can sound great, but on others it can sound crap.
For vox and pads, you typically want slower, smoother compression and again you'll just have to play with it and see. |
AH thanks Rann. |
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| Innocence Lost |
Anyway yeah the softube one was way to warm for my drums and then i got this one for 30.
Very solid and transparent. Just what i needed.
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| cryophonik |
| quote: | Originally posted by Innocence Lost
I just got me another compressor for 30 bucks. ...Next month I have my eye on one more and that'll be all. |
If you're going to get one more, I suggest going for one bread-n-butter compressor that covers a wide range - like FabFilter Pro-C. It's not a "character" compressor, per se, but it covers a lot ground and can be used for just about anything. It's pretty transparent/neutral sounding for the most part, but can get pretty unsubtle in Classic or even Opto mode. Its built-in sidechaining functionality is great and it has some of the best visual feedback you could ask for. |
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| Innocence Lost |
Yeah i heard great things about that one but way to much for this month. I'll check on kVr or gearsluts for used. So i was thinking about getting this last one for the month, its 50 bucks.
Overview
CP1A is an audio dynamics compressor plug-in, developed for clean, low distortion processing of a range of material; from subtle dynamics taming to creative drum shaping. Employing a multi-stage feed forward design minimizes distortion artifacts, even at extreme compression settings. The interface is clean and functional, ease of use being a priority.
Separate wet and dry level controls allow the compressed signal to be mixed with the original, making New York style parallel compression super easy. The high pass control for the envelope detector, allows fine control of low frequency compression, great for keeping your kick drum from loosing its thump.
Formats
image
Features
• Attack: 0.1 - 50 ms
• Release: 1 - 1000 ms
• Threshold: 0 to -60 dB
• Ratio: 1:1 - 20:1
• Parallel compression mix via wet and dry controls
• Variable high pass on the envelope detector
• Low distortion even at extreme compression settings
• 64bit internal processing |
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| madmuso |
Some comps have a threshold, and some have no threshold but rather an input knob to determine how much of the signal gets squahsed. Empirical labs distressor is a classic example of a comp with an input gain knob and no threshold knob. The output is a form of "make up gain".
The attack and release times for me are the most important settings.
Unlike automation, a compressor alters the signals ADSR envelope depepnding on the attack and release times you have set which can radiacly change the character of the audio.
Heres a tip I use all the time, in order to hear what the attack knob is doing more clearly, put the ratio really high 10:1 and above, set relase very fast. Make sure you got more than 10 db of gain reduction happening, the more the better in this case. Set the attack to its fastest setting, now play the audio and move the attack knob from fast to slow all the while listening to the front edge of the sound, you may have to crank the monitors a tad while doing this. Its a lot easier to hear the sweet spot like this, then you simply back off all the other settings to where they work for the part/song.
hope that helps, remember, quick release times can cause pumping which sometimes is wanted and sometimes not. |
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| Innocence Lost |
| Thanks for your input madmuso |
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| Looney4Clooney |
If i were making trance, i wouldn't apply any compression over the drums. I suppose i might do a bit of mb cutting using an envellope tool if things are ridiculously busy and i need to make room but given that they are basically with the bass the track not really needing or should need much buss compression if any.
great compressor for overdriving overheads. Terrible choice for what you do. Have fun. |
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